By VICKIE JAMBON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – The St. John the Baptist Parish Housing Authority Board recently appointed an experienced housing director to – hopefully – eliminate its troubles.

In a special board meeting held Oct 22, board Chairman Donald Brown announced the hiring of Joseph F. Johnson, a Baton Rouge resident.

Brown said the board will “sit down” with Johnson to draw up a new contract for the housing director. He said it would be two to three weeks before Johnson can begin his new role.

The chairman said Johnson was selected from seven candidates for the position of housing director.

All applicants were reviewed by a panel which consisted of five committee members. The committee members included two housing board members, two parish residents and a parish council member.

Brown and Board Member Raydel Morris said the names of the applicants were blocked out for the reviewing process.

Each application was numbered.

Applicants were screened by numbers and not by names.

Johnson’s application was numbered “1” for the reviewing process.

After the meeting was over, Brown was asked about Johnson’s credentials.

He would only say, “He (Johnson) has a lot of experience in housing.”

St. James Parish Housing Director Dana Groover, however, had a lot to say about Johnson.

Groover said Johnson has a gift for getting troubled housing authorities out of trouble.

According to Groover, Johnson has been in the housing field for more than 23 years.

Groover maintains Johnson performed his miracles in housing long before the maverick came to Louisiana.

“He brought the Maricopa Housing Authority in Phoenix, Ariz., out of trouble,” said Groover.

Groover said she met Johnson when the two worked together at the East Baton Rouge Parish Housing Authority. She conveyed Johnson worked there for three years before becoming the housing director for St. James Parish.

“In 1999, HUD scored us (the St. James Parish agency) an 18 out of a possible 100. That is how poor the conditions were here,” said Groover.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development office in New Orleans recommended Johnson become the housing director in St. James Parish, asserted Groover. She said Johnson accepted the challenge.

“He brought us out of our troubled status. On Sept. 30, 2001, our agency scored a 68 under his direction. This is HUD’s minimum passing score. This score earmarked our agency as a standard performer,” said Groover.

That was just the beginning for the St. James Parish agency.

In 2002, the agency earned 80 points on their yearly test. In 2003, they earned 83 points.

“He (Johnson) improved our turn-around, our living conditions, our appearance and our finances. We saw a score hike every year he was with us,” said Groover.

The board has remained tight-lipped about Johnson. They have also refused to answer questions about the other applicants.

When asked to see applications or resumes on the applicants, Brown said he wanted to notify the applicants of their status before releasing information.

Brown promised the information would be released after the applicants were properly notified.

St. John the Baptist Housing Director Alice Crenshaw was fired in August.

Crenshaw was accused of misusing the governmental agency’s finances.

Before Crenshaw’s firing, the agency tested low on its yearly HUD scores for several years.

In her final remarks, Groover saidor, “I worked for Mr. Johnson in East Baton Rouge Parish as well as in St. James Parish. He is able to bring communities together. Through him, people come to see community housing for what it is. St. John is getting a jewel.”